Exceptions
by Agent 888
Summary: Sirius knew from the moment he watched Remus walk up to the Sorting Hat that something was different about him. He could see it in the way he carried himself, with a sort of accepted deflated hope, like he wasn't expecting anything to get better. He knew, too, from that moment on that that boy would be one of the most important aspects of his life. (Remus/Sirius)
1. Chapter 1

Remus Lupin wanted to sit by himself at his new House's table, and he tried. He could tell as he approached that there were plenty of open spaces that he could easily find relative solitude in. As he approached the table, he was scanning the benches, visually measuring the empty spaces, looking for the most strategic one. A boy he remembered getting sorted before himself seemed to mistake Remus's searching eyes as ones that were seeking out company, rather than the greatest opportunity for minimal socialization. "Hey! Lupin, right?" the other boy asked, a charming grin dancing on his lips.

Remus nodded mutely.

"I'm Sirius, Sirius Black." He held out his hand for his classmate to shake. Remus stared at it for a moment before grasping it wearily. It wasn't often that he was treated so much like - well, like an equal. It wasn't as though his parents let him out much, and when they did, it was more often than not to go to St. Mungo's, where naturally all the Healers knew about his 'condition'.

"Remus Lupin," he murmured in response. He stood there for a moment longer, and Black smiled warmly at him.

"Well, ya gonna sit or what?"

With a non-committal shrug, he sat.

* * *

Sirius knew from the moment he watched Remus walk up to the Sorting Hat that something was different about him. He could see it in the way he carried himself, with a sort of accepted deflated hope, like he wasn't expecting anything to get better.

He knew, too, from that moment on that that boy would be one of the most important aspects of his life. He didn't know how or why; Sirius just knew that he wouldn't be able to let him keep walking along the House table, even though the other boy clearly wanted to do just that. He made as much of a space for Remus as he could and called him over. He looked surprised and annoyed, but he took the seat Sirius offered without comment. He didn't join in the conversation that started when James found his way over to the table, though, and remained utterly silent throughout the rest of the evening.

* * *

They arrived at their new dorms not long after dinner. Sirius waited for Remus to choose his bed before deciding on his own, kicking their other roommate, Peter Pettigrew, off and claiming that the window there had the best view, despite it being one of the castle wall. At James's incredulous snort, he exclaimed that it reminded him of home.

It wasn't really a lie. He did live in London, after all. He wasn't exactly thrilled about the thought of it actually reminding him of home, but he was happy about being close to his soon-to-be friend.

* * *

It wasn't long before Sirius realized exactly how difficult it would be before he would win Remus over as a friend. He didn't talk, ever - not outside of class, at least. Sirius got the feeling that his fellow Gryffindor was the top of their class based solely on his insightful comments during classes and skilled spell-casting. He got paired with Remus once while they were practicing a spell. Sirius wasn't very good.

After about twenty minutes of failure, he was about to give up. "I'm awful at this. Why do we have to make the feather float, anyways? I don't see the point!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "You're saying the incantation incorrectly and you're exaggerating the wand movements. Here, watch me." Naturally, he did it without trouble, just as he had been from his first attempt.

The eldest Black son wouldn't have minded bursting into flames at that moment. He would've liked Lupin to do the same. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Well we can't all be _perfect_."

Something akin to self-pity flashed in his partner's eyes. "You're wrong."

"What are you talking about?"

"No one can be perfect, Black. It's impossible. Try doing it the way I showed you, now."

Sirius did as he was asked, mulling Remus's words over. The feather floated into the air, moving steadily upwards until it touched the ceiling. He lost concentration on the spell, awed by his own work, and the feather came pelting down towards him, poking him on the nose. The tiny wound started bleeding mildly. "Ow."

He could've sworn Remus smiled, if only for a brief moment. A little flag of hope waved somewhere in his chest, and he laughed at himself. "Thanks, Lupin."

This time, his classmate unmistakably did smile, and Sirius did so in return.

* * *

Remus knew that Sirius was giving him a chance to have friends. Almost overnight, he and Potter had become two of the most popular first years at Hogwarts, and it was obvious that the Black wanted to include him in his little group, too. Their third roommate, Pettigrew, already tagged along with the duo, and they let him, although Sirius didn't seem too thrilled about it. Potter appeared to enjoy the attention more than anything else, and it seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them that if Potter was allowed to include his outlier, then Black was as well.

But Remus didn't want the attention that came with being a part of the group. It would call for an exponentially larger chance of his little secret being discovered. He cringed at the thought of the whole school staring at him, watching him, whispering. He was perfectly happy being Black's little outlier and nothing more.

Even if he didn't want to be included, he somehow ended up being part of them, even if it wasn't exactly obvious. Sirius would complain about this paper or that homework, whine for Remus to _please _help him, and he would. Then Potter would come trumping over and Pettigrew would follow and they'd all end up forgetting about the schoolwork and Remus would cave in to spending the evening or afternoon or day with them, strolling across the grounds or sitting in the Common Room until late into the night, laughing about nothing and talking about everything.

Sometimes he couldn't sleep. These small bouts of insomnia usually occurred right before the full moon. He would lie awake, staring at the sky, shivering with the memories of past nights. Occasionally, and then with increasing frequency, he would find Sirius awake, too. They would talk sometimes. One time he draped a blanket over Remus's shoulders, and although he wasn't bothered by the cold, the sheer care in the gesture cleared his racing thoughts. When he didn't comment on the blanket, Sirius began doing it more and more, until Remus didn't shiver from the memories at all.

He asked him why he would always be awake when he was. Sirius replied, "I've always known that you were up. You usually - well, I just knew." He'd been about to say that Remus was usually whimpering in his sleep before waking, he knew. A light blush covered his cheeks. He didn't know he'd woken anyone. Sirius continued. "And when you and I became friends, I thought I'd keep you company. You always looked so sad, sitting there on the windowsill all alone."

"We're... friends?" he asked quietly, choosing to ignore the comment about how sad he looked. _Pathetic, more like._

"Well yeah, Remus." Sirius grinned widely. "Think I'd put up with your smart-ass comments otherwise?"

He couldn't help grin in return, punching his friend on the shoulder. "They aren't smart-ass. They're insightful and witty."

"Isn't wit the lowest form of humor or something like that?"

"Oh, shut it."

Sirius laughed, James muttered something about beauty sleep and old married couples, and the two dissolved into quiet giggles, covering their mouths to mute the sound.

* * *

Sirius and the gang began visiting him in the hospital, much to his anxiety. He knew that his friend was just concerned about him, but if they knew the truth, would they even want to look his way anymore, much less sleep in the same room with him? He doubted it. These thoughts and more berated his mind when the three came to visit, bringing him sweets. He was never able to truly enjoy their company, no matter how much he wished to do so.

"Hey Remus, how's your head feeling?" Peter asked one day in the hospital wing.

"My head?" Remus inquired with confusion, lifting his hand to run through his hair. "It's fine. Why do you ask?" He glanced over to Sirius, but was unable to decipher what he was mouthing.

"Well... Sirius told us that you fell out of bed last night, and that's why you're here." Peter looked just as confused as Remus had been not a moment ago. His thoughts cleared immediately.

"Oh! Right! Sorry. I must've fallen harder than I'd thought." The others didn't look like they truly believed him, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to elaborate on what had truly happened. He shot Sirius a thankful look. Instead of acknowledging this, the eldest Black mouthed in return, _We need to talk later._ Remus grimaced, but nodded his assent.

* * *

Author's Note:  
This will be the longest and quite possibly only author's note. I just wanted to explain a bit about the story and where it's going, as well as when to expect updates.

Now, I'm going to try my hardest to make this fic as canonical as possible while still including Remus and Sirius's relationship. Yes, I'll tell you now: This story focuses primarily on a romantic relationship between two men. There will be no explicit content, although sex will be implied at points. This story begins with and will end with a 'T' rating. However, if such relationships make you uncomfortable, I suggest that you look for something else to read. I also would advise those who do not wish to read spoilers related to the books/movies to turn back now.

This fic will follow Remus and Sirius and include time from their school years, the months surrounding the Potters' death, Sirius's time in Azkaban (just a light outlining), the men's reunion, the events during and after Sirius's death, Remus's mourning, and finally with his marriage (briefly). As you can probably tell, I have most of this fic mapped out, and so updates will be regular and will happen once a week (except maybe in the beginning to get things going) on Sundays. Obviously this will be a good-length story, although I'm not sure exactly how long it will be at this point in time.

Now, this story isn't going to be so fluffy that you can rest your head on it and fall asleep, but it isn't going to be super depressing, cry-your-eyes-out sad, either. It will be a rather serious fic, but I see Remus and Sirius's relationship as deep but very affectionate, and the story will reflect that.

A note on characters: I have my interpretations on characters, and you have yours. You can PM me if you wish to discuss how I portray them; I welcome all types of feedback. I hope to write this in such a way that it explains why I think of them as I do. Oh, and idk whose point of view the majority of this fic will be in. I started this chapter in Remus's point of view, but I switched to Sirius's rather quickly. For now, I'm just going with whoever's I feel makes the most sense.

As I said, this will be the longest author's note, if not the only one. In all likelihood there will be one more at the very end, because what fanfic writer can resist such a thing?

Lastly, I wanted to say that I do not have a beta. I am constantly searching for one, because however I may be confident in my own editing abilities, I do like to have a second opinion (or two). If you're interested, feel free to contact me; I ask that you be willing to stick with the story until the end, and that you try to be punctual. I understand that life gets in the way, and it probably will for me occasionally over the course of writing this story. If you, the readers, notice a lapse in my updating habits, visit my profile for further information.

Meep. Sorry for the super long note!

Agent 888


	2. Chapter 2

"What's wrong?" Remus asked Sirius. They were taking a walk around the lake; Sirius had come to take him from the hospital wing after dinner. He had been alone, and Remus had asked why Peter and James were. He hadn't answered.

So they walked, Sirius striding, Remus more or less stumbling. The sun was setting, and being early December as it was, snow covered the grounds and the lake was frozen. The sun flickered across its darkened surface, stinging Remus's eyes as he looked at it and anywhere that wasn't Sirius. Sirius had his hands shoved into his robes' pockets and was staring at the ground, chewing his lip as if wondering how to say what he wanted to.

They came to a stop beneath one of the old trees that lined the lake whose branches were bent precariously under the weight of the heavy snow. Remus could barely see his breath in the fading light, and could just make out Sirius's eyes in what was now only light from the stars and the moon. With a final sigh, the taller boy blurted out, "I know you're a werewolf, Remus."

* * *

Sirius could tell that Remus was trying his hardest not to simply run away. He imagined that he would have the same sort of reaction, should he be some kind of creature that was often looked down upon by the majority of society. Remus opened and closed his mouth several times, and had it been another time, a different set of circumstances, he would have laughed at his normally composed and eloquent friend's face and speechlessness.

He turned as if to flee, and Sirius caught his arm. Remus turned; he could see the hopelessness in the werewolf's eyes. "Listen, Remus. I'm not judging you and it's not like I'm gonna tell the whole school that you… that you… that you have a, uh, a furry problem." He began smiling at his own analogy, but stopped himself. "You're one of my best friends, and before you go running off because you think that maybe I'm disgusted by you, I just wanted to say that I'm okay with the fact that you're a werewolf. I didn't know that you were when I met you so it didn't change anything about how I think about you when I figured it out because you're the same guy I met."

Remus punched him and walked away.

* * *

The days following the little talk between Remus and Sirius were hard on their roommates, teachers, and anyone who happened to get in their respective ways. When Peter and James tried to ask either of them what had happened to make them cease all communication with each other, the two would receive a deadly glare from Remus and a rant about over-sensitive, word-convoluting buggers from Sirius. James always let Sirius vent for longer than normal because he found it amusing to listen to the increasingly ridiculous insults the Black managed to come up with, but Peter often ran away from the—in his opinion—awkward situations the inquiries created.

Days turned into weeks, and it wasn't long before the full moon reared its head once more. Sirius watched as Remus was led down to the Whomping Willow by Madam Pomfrey, and once the nurse was heading back to her office, he intercepted her and asked, "Can I stay in the hospital wing overnight?"

Pomfrey placed a cool hand on his forehead and asked, "Why, dear? Are you ill?"

"Well, er, yes. I have this terrible headache." He leaned against the wall, willing his face to blanch. It didn't work very well. "And I've been feeling rather dizzy since dinner."

Looking as though she didn't believe a word of his little act, she pursed her lips. "Mr. Black…"

"And I think there's some sort of clinginess aspect to my sickness, too. I feel as though—as though you won't be rid of me, no matter what it is you do."

In the end, she let him take up residence in one of the beds. It was a slow night in the hospital wing, and he had the room to himself. She had obviously dealt with him and his friends, getting into little scuffles and pranking this way and that as they always were, and seemed to know it was best to give the kids what they wanted if it wasn't too much of a trouble to her in the first place.

* * *

Sirius didn't get much sleep that night. He wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but a mournful howling kept him awake until the small hours of dawn. When the sun finally rose, he faked unconsciousness as Remus was helped into the wing by Madam Pomfrey and proceeded to collapse with exhaustion onto a cot on the opposite side of the room from Sirius's.

When the nurse had disappeared into her office, Sirius walked quietly to his friend's bedside, and placed the chocolate he had brought with him on his night table, then promptly fell asleep in the surprisingly comfortable plastic chair at the edge of the cot.

* * *

Remus awoke with a start. Light was streaming in through the hospital wing's windows, creating familiar patterns across the floor. He had been in the wing enough to remember what the light would look like when, and judged it to be around eight in the morning. After determining the time, he looked around for the source of his rather sudden snap from unconsciousness and discovered a large blob of sheets in a chair near his bed that was snoring very loudly. He rolled his eyes and automatically reached for the chocolate on the small table next to his cot.

Biting into it, he finally really woke up. The chocolate wasn't just any chocolate. It was his very favorite brand, a type of chocolate from Belgium that Sirius had—

Oh. Well, that explained the blob of snoring sheets. He placed the chocolate back on the table, fully intending on eating it later. He had noticed a note that had been folded up and placed under the chocolate box; Remus read it.

* * *

Sirius screamed. It wasn't a very manly scream, not that he would ever admit that. Ever. But who could possibly blame him? Something heavy and _alive_ had jumped on him while he had been dreaming, and its weight had knocked him to the ground, forcing the air out of him and scaring the shit out of him in the process.

"Sorry if I woke you." Remus was staring down at him, looking for all the world like he hadn't just nearly killed Sirius.

"Sorry if I—? Remus! You nearly killed me!"

"That's a bit of an overstatement."

Sirius huffed. "That's not the point."

"It's your fault, anyways."

"Why is it _my_ fault?"

"You weren't expecting an attack. Haven't you ever heard of vigilance?"

"I was asleep!"

"So? I'm always aware."

"You don't count."

"Do too."

"You've got like… special powers."

"I still count."

Sirius shook his head, giving up. He grinned at Remus, though. Somehow, the chocolate and the note had worked, and everything was okay again.

* * *

Author's Note: I was gonna add more and I know I said no more ANs but I just wanted to say that I apologize for getting this chapter up rather late in the day (where I am, at least), but it's still Sunday so there. And like I said, I was gonna add more but I is tired and I thought I had more written than what I did before I started writing today. I had like the first paragraph and a half -_- It seemed like more the last time I was working on it.

Next chapter will be better, and in the one after that there'll probably be a skip to their second or third year…

Agent 888


	3. Chapter 3

James Potter was by no means an unobservant boy. So when his best friend, Sirius, and Sirius's tag-along, Lupin, suddenly started talking again, he noticed. He noticed the looks they shared and their clipped conversations that were only decipherable by the two of them. He noticed how Sirius covered for Lupin more so than usual and how Lupin began defending Sirius. _Defending _him! As if the heir to the Black family needed such a thing.

It wasn't as though James was jealous. No, he liked the strange, quiet boy that Sirius had all but dragged into their group. It was just that James felt like Sirius and Remus shared something, a secret of sorts, and that they weren't planning on telling James, not ever. And that made him feel-betrayed, in a way. If he had a secret, he would tell his best friend. Maybe he wouldn't tell Lupin, since they didn't know one another very well, but he would, at the least, tell Sirius.

By the time exams rolled around, Sirius and Remus still hadn't told James whatever it was they kept between them. Remus was looking less and less of a wreck whenever he came back from the hospital wing or from visiting his mother. At the beginning of the school year, he'd have terrible accidents in the middle of the night, usually once a month, and he would be so injured that Sirius, Peter, and James would have to eat meals without him and Remus would miss his classes. Around the holidays, Remus's mother got ill, and he began visiting her now and again. He still had an accident once in a while, but those became increasingly infrequent while his visits back home grew in frequency. James wondered, sometimes, if the boy had been purposefully flinging himself down stairwells out of concern for his mother, as Remus told them once that she had been sick for several years, not the few months since he had been given permission to visit her.

Towards the end of the school year, Remus seemed happier than before. He seemed less tired and more expressive, and he laughed more readily than before. When he came back to Hogwarts after his overnight stays at home, he didn't look like he'd just touched death, and he would even smile at Sirius's gift to him of chocolate. James was itching to ask about the change, to ask if Remus's mother was doing better, but whenever the subject began to peek its way around the corner, Remus and Sirius would share a look and he realized that he wouldn't get an answer out of them any time soon.

It was unfair, really. And no, he was not jealous of their closeness, not one bit.

* * *

Author's Note: I just had a brainfart and couldn't remember how to make this a new chapter.

On the bright side, I have so many ideas for this fic now. That makes me happy :3

This chapter is tiny, but I said all that I needed to. The next chapter will be up either on Wednesday or before that. I had a grueling Thanksgiving, and didn't have time to write much, and don't have the energy to write more than this today. Sorry :(


End file.
